Heteroepitaxy is epitaxy performed with materials that have different physical properties. Silicon (Si) has become a widely used semiconductor, in particular for microelectronic systems. As Si does not emit photons efficiently, heteroepitaxial growth of optical gain materials, e.g., III-V compound semiconductors, directly on a Si substrate has been a goal for both industry and academia. However, heteroepitaxial growth of III-V compound semiconductors on Si can result in a number of detrimental defects, such as threading dislocations, due to lattice and/or thermal mismatch. The dislocations originate at the III-V/Si growth interface and can propagate into the optical gain material toward the active region, tending to reduce the life and performance of the system.